Various

“ The Cathedral of Seville is undoubtedly one of the largest, handsomest and richest Gothic churches in Christendom, and was once a veritable museum of works of art. An old saying groups the chief churches of Spain together as "Toledo la rica, Salamanca la fuerte, Leon la bella, Oviedo la sacra, e Sevilla la grande." ”

“ In their design the sharp acanthus foliage of the Greeks is commingled with the emblems of Christianity, such as the circle, the cross, the vine and the dove, with infinitely ingenious grotesques of birds and animals, and with human figures. ”

“ The chief of these chapels, situated at the east end of the cathedral, is the gorgeous "Capilla del Condestable," built for Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, hereditary Constable of Castile, in 1487. This chapel contains superbly sculptured tombs of the Constable and his wife, and the lofty reja (Plate XXVI.) which guards the entrance to it has been considered one of the finest specimens of its kind, owing to the perfection with which every detail is carried out. ”

“ From this period on, the art continued to progress, and in the sixteenth century Spain produced works [Pg 41] of art in wrought iron which were unrivalled in Europe.
The most beautiful and characteristic productions of the Spanish iron-smiths were the openwork screens or grilles, especially the rejas, or chancel screens, enclosing the chapels in the cathedrals; and these last deserve special attention, from the beauty of their forms, the quality of their workmanship and the intrinsic variety of their models. ”

“ After the sixteenth century smiths' work in Spain declined in artistic interest and importance. The abilities of the iron-workers were devoted to constructing objects on a smaller scale, such as door locks, clock ornaments and the like; the arts of inlaying iron-work with gold and silver sprung into prominence, and Spanish artists practically ceased to undertake the great carved and chiselled grilles which have formed the subject of this paper. ”

“ At any rate, the artists who embellished Monreale in the latter part of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries were in every way the equals in artistic abilities of the Italian masters who lived and worked a century later; and when we talk of the Renaissance we should not forget that long before its advent these Sicilian artists had here produced work that today challenges the wonder and admiration of critics. ”

“ Worthy objects of iron work must have been made by Christian artists of this period in Spain, for, although no specimens have come down to us, we have historical information which confirms such a conclusion. ”